Future of the Tri-Cities

Cusumano recently completed the 480,000 square foot Talaria at Burbank mixed use project which was named the San Fernando Business Journal 2018 “Mixed Use Project of the Year”, and won the 2019 “Golden Nugget” Grand Award. The Whole Foods anchored project is Burbank’s first and only LEED Gold mixed use development. The Cusumano Family is the largest owner of multifamily units in the region and one of the most active philanthropists in southern California. Cusumano is also one of the most active developers in the area having developed scores of projects over the past several decades. The Cusumano Real Estate Group currently has two major projects in the entitlement phase in Burbank. Cusumano is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Providence St. Joseph Foundation, sits on more than a dozen other community boards and has received dozens off awards for philanthropy and civic engagement. Cusumano received his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from UCLA, his MBA from Pepperdine, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business. He lives in Malibu.

David Kersh is the Executive Director of the Carpenters/Contractors Cooperation Committee (C/CCC), a non-profit organization comprised of signatory contractors and the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. For over 19 years, Mr. Kersh has been at the forefront of regional efforts to promote the creation of good paying jobs, fair competition and high quality construction industry standards. He is actively engaged in the areas of land use entitlement, labor compliance, economic development, transportation and contracting policies, where he has focused on ensuring that construction projects are built by top-quality contractors who generate good paying middle class jobs and rewarding training opportunities. Mr. Kersh graduated with a degree in History from UC Santa Barbara and completed additional studies in Madrid, Spain. Born in Lima, Peru, he lives in Culver City with his wife Pilar and his teenage children.

Casey is responsible for all acquisitions, financing, and marketing for LocalConstruct. He has built a development portfolio exceeding $300mm in value since co-founding the company in 2008. Casey is deeply involved in all aspects of deal sourcing, deal structuring, and development programming. His focus is on infill housing strategies and his work has been featured in Fast Company, Architectural Record, and Fox News, among others. Prior to founding LocalConstruct, Casey worked in resort development with Auberge Resorts and began his career in finance and management consulting in New York. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. Casey holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from UCLA.

Keith McCloskey is a principal in KTGY’s Los Angeles office. He is responsible for establishing the overall design vision for all of the office’s new architecture and interiors projects and leads a creative team that is involved in a broad range of projects from low density to high-rise throughout the U.S. Mr. McCloskey’s comprehensive experience spans nearly 25 years and includes the planning and design of multifamily, mixed use, senior living, civic and aviation projects. His most recent work has been focused on high-density urban infill sites, which provide challenging design opportunities in politically-charged, design-sensitive communities. He is particularly adept at creating sustainable projects that integrate into the urban fabric, generating a sense of place and individual character of each community. These residential projects range from affordable and tax credit housing to luxury apartment and condominium communities. Mr. McCloskey has taken a keen interest in Sustainable Architecture since early in his career and became a LEED Accredited Professional shortly after the program’s inception over a decade ago. His work integrates green building design principles into each project, and as a result he has worked on multiple projects from their design inception through final certification. He has a passion for researching new technologies and building systems, and recently completed one of the largest intensive Eco-Roof installations on an apartment community in Portland, Oregon. In addition to leading the Los Angeles office’s design efforts, Mr. McCloskey has been actively involved in volunteer programs within the City of Los Angeles including AIA Los Angeles Design Competition Mentoring as well as the Architecture Construction & Engineering (ACE) Student Mentorship Program.

Alla Sorochinsky is the Managing Director of CWP and is responsible for acquisitions, financing and asset management. Since 2001, Alla was the Chief Financial Officer of Cypress Equity Investments where she developed and managed the company's asset repositioning and financial reporting infrastructure. Alla oversaw all aspects of the company, including acquisitions, finance, asset management and dispositions. Previously, Alla was the financial controller of several publicly traded technology companies. Alla graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in International Economics and received a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. Upon graduation Alla joined BDO Seidman LLP where she received her CPA license.

With 40+ years of business development and marketing expertise in architecture and interior design, I am continually in touch with hundreds of professionals in the real estate and development community. Well known in Los Angeles and Orange County through long-term memberships in the Jonathan Club, ULI, CCA and LAHQ, I create new business opportunities with multifamily and mixed-use design projects for 100-person architectural firm Harley Ellis Devereaux in downtown Los Angeles. I also raise prize-winning dinnerplate-size dahlias, and have won more than 50 blue ribbons at Southern California dahlia shows.

Global workplace services and real estate leader with track record for success in conceptualizing master planned corporate facilities, executing innovative workplace environments and proactively managing millions of square feet of real estate portfolio planning within fast growth, technology rich organizations. Experience managing, developing and negotiating within cross disciplined teams leading; real estate, design / construction, strategic sourcing tech hardware, software and services, facilities engineering, corporate / intellectual property security, corporate amenities programs. Strategic leader that can quickly identify process improvements and cost savings that result in collaboration improvements and bottom line efficiency while protecting corporate culture and core beliefs.

Terry Tornek was born and raised in New York City and moved to Pasadena from Massachusetts in 1982 to accept the position of Planning Director. He was hired because of his history of neighborhood improvement and historic preservation while serving as Planning Director of Springfield, Mass. He also served as a member of the Springfield City Council. Terry was Pasadena’s Planning Director for 3 years and helped to rewrite the Zoning Ordinance, the General Plan and establish the redevelopment plan for Old Pasadena. After leaving city government, Terry built a career in real estate as a developer and manager of residential & commercial properties all over Southern California. He remained active in Pasadena affairs through his 20 year service as a Board Member of Pasadena Neighborhood Housing Services, a non-profit organization devoted to affordable housing in Northwest Pasadena. In 2005 Sid Tyler appointed Terry to the Planning Commission. He also served as a member of the Design Commission. He was elected to represent District 7 on the City Council in April, 2009, was reelected in 2013 and was then elected as Mayor in April, 2015.

Kent Handleman oversees all leasing activity for LPC West Los Angeles. With over 28 years of transactional experience encompassing over 10 million square feet of space, he manages a portfolio with 4+ million square feet of office projects, and represents ownerships that include LPC West partnerships, associated capital partners, and third-party owners throughout the South Bay, Playa Vista, Culver City, Santa Monica, downtown Los Angeles, Tri-Cities, and the San Fernando Valley. Prior to joining LPC West, Kent led leasing efforts for Thomas Properties Group in Southern California. This included City National Plaza, a 2.6-million square foot premier office complex in downtown Los Angeles, where he successfully leased approximately 2 million square feet as the project was repositioned in the market. Prior to this, Kent worked at CBRE where he represented tenants and landlords in the leasing, disposition and/or marketing of commercial office property. Kent’s tenure in the industry began in real estate acquisitions and financial analysis for a pension fund advisor. After completing his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business, he joined MetLife Real Estate Investments and, in addition to hotel and multi-family projects, he oversaw leasing and asset management for a 3.5-million square foot office building portfolio, with 2.5 million square feet in downtown Los Angeles. In his capacity as an asset manager, Kent also directed property management, and was responsible for business/investment decisions regarding these office, hotel, and multi-family projects as owner’s representative.

Taleia Mueller is the COO of CTRL Collective that was established in June 2015. Her career began 2006 in entertainment working for a production company. Her passion for the industry grew over ten years as she worked for the Cameron Family, Frank Gehry, and Guy Oseary. The last 4 years of her professional career were focused on the Technology side of entertainment pushing her to pursue working with entrepreneurs to follow their passion, where she met David Bren and they partnered on CTRL Collective.

Troy Pollet joined CBRE, Inc. in 2007 after working in institutional leasing and development with the Trammell Crow Company.  With a diverse background encompassing finance, institutional leasing, real estate law and development, Troy brings a unique perspective to the brokerage business and the ability to customize solutions for each client’s specific needs. Troy has been instrumental in the underwriting, acquiring and disposing of many of the highest profile assets in the North Los Angeles marketplace.  In the past 9 years, he has been involved in the sale, leasing and underwriting of over 7,000,000 square feet of institution quality office and medical office space.